The Bankok airport which has been closed since last 4 days will still remain closed till monday. Bankok Arport being one of the largest airports of the world is under siege At least 2,000 anti-government protesters who have tightened their siege of Thailand’s main airport on Saturday, forcing dozens of riot police to abandon a checkpoint at the airport.
Airport director Serirat Prasutanont said the standoff has forced the airport authority to extend the airport’s closure until at least 6pm Monday.
The confrontation has severed the capital from civilian air traffic and stranded some 100,000 tourists. The protesters are seeking to oust Thai Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat in the latest escalation in a long-running political crisis.
Commanders on the ground said they would not yet try to evict by force the thousands of protesters at Suvarnabhumi and Don Muang airports.
PAD supporters deflated the tyres of ambulances and police vehicles at the police checkpoint, while 2,000 police were deployed around the Suvarnabhumi international airport.
Some Asian airlines on Friday began sending flights to Bangkok to carry passengers stranded there.Hong Kong carrier Cathay Pacific said it would operate two flights on Friday and Saturday to pick up passengers and crew stranded in Bangkok, While South Korea’s Korean Air Lines and Asiana Airlines said they had begun sending flights on Thursday to carry up to 1,100 stranded passengers.
Malaysian Airline has also put on flights to Bangkok and is to decide on whether to send a military flight.
Like most carriers, Taiwan’s two major carriers—Eva Airways and China Airlines—cancelled their flights into Bangkok on Wednesday.
The Philippine’s Cebu Pacific Air said it has cancelled all its flights to Bangkok until next Wednesday. Another carrier of Philipines, the Philippines Airlines said that it had also stopped flights but it would be reviewing its decision on daily basis.
Itehad Airways sent a flight to bring stranded passengers.